


Ghostbusters 3 Screenplay

by Gradedgear81



Category: Ghostbusters (Movies 1984-1989), Ghostbusters - All Media Types
Genre: Comedy, Films, Gen, Horror, Screenplay/Script Format, ghostbusters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 13:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16409537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gradedgear81/pseuds/Gradedgear81
Summary: A third instalment to the classic Ghostbusters franchise that takes place around 24 years later when Oscar the child of Dana Barrett and Peter Venkman returns to the Ghostbusters' fire house after leaving years prior disgraced from losing the original Ecto 1 in a poker game. He is greeted with the new crew still a little disappointed in him and his father Peter Venkman's attempts to ignore him. The original Ghostbusters have been struggling with business since the addition of several ghost busting shops setting up business. One in particular stands at the top with modern advertisements. The original Ghostbusters advertise themselves as the Real Ghostbusters. Yeah you know why lol. The citizens of Manhattan start acting strange after the gates of hell open far enough to start bleeding over and influencing the mortal realm. Rul the Soul Collector is introduced as the main antagonist. A minion of Satan in charge of gathering souls for him devour. The souls are linked together by chains and obey whatever the soul collector desires. The Ghostbusters' find themselves surrounded by the souls of citizens of Manhattan and have to venture further into the hell dimension Manhellton (taken from Hellbent). Ecto 1 returns later.





	Ghostbusters 3 Screenplay

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a script to demonstrate and establish tone and humour of a third Ghostbusters movie. I believe sequels can work with the right writing style. It's not a lot but I hope you enjoy.

Ghostbusters 3

 

 

 

Written by Kevin W. Clark

First draft. No research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXT. NEW YORK CITY CONSTRUCTION SITE. DAY.

Ambient noise from the New York city scape fills the air. The usual New York rush hour calamity. Cars honking. Two pedestrians are yelling across the street to each other in greeting. Business people walking and talking on cell phones. Traffic is heavy as usual. Some kids sitting on the sidewalk in front of an building listen to music on a bluetooth speaker on the ground. A driver in a car impatiently gesturing in the air over some currently unseen situation ahead. A construction truck is having trouble backing up and maneuvering the traffic.

DRIVER  
Oh come on, how long does it take to move a truck?

Person Glances at the clock in the car.

DRIVER  
Great, I’m going to be late.

A construction chief holding a coffee and wearing the usual garments passes by the commotion. He heads back to the site where they are digging to build a new skyscraper. The chief takes a sip of his coffee and waves to the driver of the construction truck. Without stopping he continues across the street and enters the construction site that's surround by a fence. Some of the site is closed off from sight and they have

CHIEF  
You’re good to go Carl.

The chief resumes his regular duties and we follow him into the construction site. He passes by an idling worker. The chief never slows in his pace.

CHIEF  
Tommy, make sure you’re not late again. We have lots to do tomorrow.

TOMMY  
I’ll be on time.

Something suddenly dawns on Tommy and he calls after the chief.

TOMMY  
Oh hey boss. Charlie and Douglas are still in there.

The chief waves back at Tommy indicating that he heard him then heads to the lower levels of the construction site.

INT. Or EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE. DAY.

The chief is now alone in a restricted area where heavy construction has taken place. There are supports and work being done all over the place. The sound of wind is all around. There are barely audible whispers in the air. The chief briefly stops and listens for a minute.

CHIEF  
Is somebody there?

There is no response.

CHIEF  
Douglas is that you? Everyone is supposed to be out by now... 

No response. He moves further into the site and feels a chill wash over him. He shakes off the feeling and moves on more alert yet still unaware of the paranormal activity starting happen around him. Dust and rubble is slightly moving around him but too small to notice. 

CHIEF  
Come on Douglas, I’m not in the mood for jokes.

He stops again looking around suddenly noticing the subtle movement around him.

CHIEF  
Damn not the ghosts again.

The chief resumes and hastens his pace.

CHIEF  
Douglas, Tony come on we have to get out of here.

There is another whisper only this time it is louder and the chief can clearly hear it spouting evil mumble jumble. It warns of the right hand bringer of fear and death in an ancient language. 

CHIEF  
Okay I’m out of here.

The chief goes to turn around to exit the construction site when there is a sudden earthquake. He turns around again to face the direction he was previously heading into the site and from somewhere off camera there is a source causing a glowing light that catches the chief’s attention. That something off camera is enough to get the chief curious and he continues forward to investigate.

CHIEF  
What is that?

INT. Ancient Clock Tower Ruins. Evening.

The chief approaches a partially uncovered ancient clock tower. The clock and upper half of the tower are still covered in the earth. It is decorated with some form of ancient writing and at the base is a set of doors which are now completely exposed. This is where the light is emanating from. The chief is cautious but his curiosity changes to fear when the doors slowly start to open a bit. The chief’s intuition tells him to get out of there and he listens. He turns and runs when suddenly the doors spring open and we hear the growling and snapping of unseen dogs. The chief is in a full run screaming.

CHIEF  
No. Please no.

Along the walls of the construction site we see shadows of the two wild dogs chasing the poor chief as they quickly catch up to him and pounce on him. The two ghost dogs tear wildly at the man and start pulling him back toward the gates from which they were released.

CHIEF  
(Screams)

The sound of the chief screaming no transitions into the Ghostbusters theme music and title card.

TITLE CARD.

INT. TAXI CAB. DAY.

We hear the usual New York street commotion as we focus on a taxi taking Oscar Venkman to the Ghostbusters fire hall. Oscar wears glasses and dresses nerdy with a pin striped button shirt. Skinny jeans with a brown belt. He observes New York through the taxi window and notices a Ghost busters ad on one of the digital jumbo screens littered around New York city with Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Lauren Spengler.

INT. GHOSTBUSTERS FIRE HALL. DAY.

The new Ghostbusters van pulls into the fire hall. The doors remain open. Roy Holtzman holds up a trap to the group of ghostbusters already taking residence in the familiar hall of the Ghostbusters HQ. Roy looks pleased with himself clearly boasting over their triumph. He takes a drink of the coffee that he is holding. Ray Stantz is working under the hood of one of the other Ghostbuster vans. Doing minor repairs and tweaks.

ROY  
Bag em’ and tag em’. That’s another one down for the ‘A’ team.

As Roy passes by the van he sets his coffee cup on the top of it unaware of Rays annoyed glares. They past each other as Ray rushes over to the van and removes the coffee cup from the top of the van and sets it down on a group of documents laying about on the office tables in the fire hall and talks in a disapproving deadpan tone. Roy turns back to face Ray and to listen to what he has to say.

RAY  
Well the ‘A' team received a call from a certain disgruntled mayor concerning his exotic fish being boiled which makes this the four complaint this month.

ROY  
The mayor also likes his exotic dinners so no problems there.

Ray disapproves.

RAY  
We are paranormal and paraphysics professionals and since our endorsement of other Ghostbusters has led to competing companies the market has become fierce. We had no choice but to make improvements.

ROY  
Don’t give me that. I hear you trashed an entire ballroom before.

RAY  
That was on our first time out with the gear. We were amateurs at the time and besides some things in that room weren’t up to fire regulation standards. Also it doesn't help business when half of New York sues you over damages.

 

From Roys perspective through the fire hall doors Oscar’s taxi pulls up in front of the firehall. Oscar exits the taxi after paying the cab driver.

CAB DRIVER  
Hey kid, hang in there. Everyone makes mistakes.

Oscar nods then turns around to face the looming firehall as if the building still held great judgement over it’s visitor and silently approaches the doors as Roy is the first one to take notice of him. Roy deliberately announces for the rest of the team to hear.

ROY  
Well, well the prodigal son has returned.

Oscar has shame riddled all over his face. 

...

Roy is about to return the argument when Peter enters from the side office room with Oscar on his tail.

OSCAR  
How many times do I have to apologize for the car before you let it go?

PETER  
See you're assuming that there's a limit.

Peter picks up a newspaper on the desk as a distraction from his son’s prying questioning. Quickly reading over the newspaper that is reporting the state of ghost sightings have started to increase. Lauren is at her desk looking over a substance that she collected at the last mission.

PETER  
Paranormal activity has been increasing again...

Lauren is heavily contratrating on her work while Peter is trying to get her attention. He notices that she isn’t hearing him. Meanwhile Oscar is still trying to talk with him.

OSCAR  
Dad…

Peter just raises his index finger indicating to give him a minute.

PETER  
Lauren…

Peter rolls up the newspaper and walks around behind Lauren. He puts the newspaper upto his lips to use it as a speakerphone.

PETER  
Helllllooo Lauren…

Peter attempts to mimic a newscaster in order to get Laurens attention. She still doesn’t look up from her work but he volume seems to bug her.

LAUREN  
Can someone turn that down?

Overly annoid Peter slaps the top of Lauren’s head with the paper and she finally breaks from her work.

LAUREN  
Oh, Peter when did you get back?

Peter looks like he is about to protest in disbelief that Lauren hasn’t even noticed him.

PETER  
Have you seen this?

 

…

 

A handsome woman enters the fire hall. She is in great distress and is eagerly searching for help from the ghostbusters. Venkman offers his hand to lead the woman into the back offices. To “investigate” the woman’s case further. Oscar is left standing there bewildered. 

PETER  
You poor, poor woman. I understand just what you're going through.

HANDSOME WOMAN  
You do?

PETER  
Would you believe that I too was just like you when I helped my associates open this business? I said to myself Peter these nutjobs (referring to Ray and Egon) are either going to get you arrested or institutionalized.

HANDSOME WOMAN  
So it all turned out fine.

PETER  
No, both happened...but I assure you that it was all for the best.

The handsome woman just continues to nod and agree with Peter. After the state that she is in she doesn't fully hear what he is saying and is more focused on telling anyone who will listen her abnormal story.

OSCAR  
Incredible, my father cares more about beautiful strangers then his own son.

Ray comes over and throws his arm around Oscar’s shoulder in support.

RAY  
That’s not true. 

Zeddemore comes over and mimics Stantz on the opposite side of Oscar. He takes a deeper breath and raises his eyebrows before nodding his head.

WINSTON  
Yeah.

There is a brief moment before they both realize what he said then look at him in mild shock.

INT. GHOSTBUSTERS FIRE HALL BASEMENT. NIGHT.

The ecto containment unit starts to malfunction and sparks of electricity snap off between the wiring and the electrical equipment along the wall. Suddenly a hideous blob known as Slimer emerges from somewhere around the unit and circles around the room desperately searching for something then flies straight up through the roof.

INT. GHOSTBUSTERS FIRE HALL KITCHEN. DAWN. 

Elmer Bernstein’s main theme is playing.

The sun shines through the halls of the Ghostbuster’s fire hall marking a new morning. Peter Vankman is awake and enters the kitchen ready to get the day started with some breakfast. He gets a plate and frying pan from the cardboards then goes to reach for the fridge. When he opens it he finds all the contents of the fridge inside absolutely covered in green slime and mostly eaten. Peter is not completely aware of his senses yet and briefly closes the door of the fridge again in his absent mindedness. He stands motionless in front of the fridge for a minute until it finally hits him what’s in the fridge. He slowly opens the door again and appears at everything. He silently lifts a half eaten apple out of the fridge that is still dripping with slime. He makes a painful expression on his face but remains silent struggling with his frustration. He hears the sounds of Slimer somewhere close by still chowing down on his banquet. Peter slowly moves around in search of the source of noise until stumbling on Slimer in the middle of a large pile of food. He is ferociously eating and doesn’t notice Peter.

 

The original team Peter, Ray and Winston synchronize in saying one of their usual phases together. The newer team of Roy, Lauren and Oscar stare at them in awe.

OSCAR  
Why do they do that? Do you think they practice?

LAUREN  
Logically they must.

ROY  
Which one of them do you think comes up with the phrases?

Ray  
Hey don’t knock style…

 

...

 

EXT. FRONT OF CENTRAL PARK. NIGHT.

The Ghostbusters team exits the street to come out face to face with a horrifying version of central park where it has been replaced with a carnival complete with a ferris wheel and rollercoaster. The rollercoaster runs around a weeping statue of liberty. Lauren looks over her instrumentation too focused to notice the horrific scene in front of her. 

LAUREN  
If my assumptions are correct then the distance I'm reading on the meter puts the concentration of energy at the Metropolitan museum of art. That must be where they took the gate.

Roy taps Lauren on the should to get her attention. She looks up with little emotion present on her face in a deadpan manner like her father.

LAUREN  
Ah… well this might be a little more challenging then we suspected.

OSCAR  
What happened to Central Park?

LAUREN  
If we want to get to the museum faster we will have to go through the park.

ROY  
Do you think that’s a good idea?

LAUREN  
So far the ghosts have been more or less docile.

ROY  
I think the operative point is “so far".

LAUREN  
I don’t see us having many options here.

ROY  
But look at it.

OSCAR  
I don’t know, I think it might be an improvement.

 

Rockwell’s Somebody’s Watching Me plays.

The ghostbusters approach the admission gate at the entrance of Central Park. Inside the booth is completely drenched in darkness and looks abandoned until a pale hand holds out three tickets to the Ghostbusters. The three of them take the tickets and enter the park. As they pass the booth they are unaware of three ghostly white and featureless faces pressed up against the window.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK. NIGHT.

The three ghostbusters stick close together weary of the occupants of the park around them. They are surrounded by ghosts attending to the numerous amusement park games. There is a bottle toss game replaced with skulls instead of bottles. There is a cotton candy street vendor run by an overweight ghost. The ghost is dressed up in camo. In life he might have been a veteran hunter and the park full of kids is a bit disturbing place to find this character. There are rows of vendors selling various food items. There are tents where glutenous ghosts eat like crazy. They are as bad as slimer. The rollercoaster runs around the statue of liberty and through a tunnel at the end which abruptly springs to life and chomps down on the carts and riders.

 

INT. NEW YORK MUSEUM. NIGHT.

Oscar enters the lobby of the museum on the first level cautiously surveying his surrounds.

OSCAR  
Hello...Anyone home? I promise we’re not auditors.

 

With no clear course of action to take the three of them look to each other for some hint of an idea.

ROY  
So what do we do now?

Oscar suddenly has a revelation and steps forward in front of the double door hell gate.

OSCAR  
Of course it’s obvious.

ROY  
It is?

With a wild struggle Oscar manages to close the hell gates in a lazy attempt to resolve the situation then turns back to the rest of the team.

OSCAR  
Okay problem solved. Let’s go home.

Oscar takes a quick look over his palms as he feels they are dirty and wipes them off.

LAUREN  
Fascinating. 

Having an epiphany Lauren stops for a minute to open her journal and give further consideration to Oscar's actions.

LAUREN  
According to my calculations we don’t have very long.

ROY  
Have very long until what?

The door is clearly starting to build up too much spiritual energy and the whole room is starting to noticeably shake.

LAUREN  
Until that.

LAUREN  
The gateway is drawing energy from the alternate reality. With no way to release that excess power spells out catastrophic results for our side.

 

Oscar steps out in front of the other two Ghostbusters to approach and address the soul collector.

OSCAR  
Okay mister Rul is it? We have had it up to here with…

The team shake their head and Roy holds out his hand a little higher than Oscar but Lauren disagrees and they take a minute to huddle together to form a consensus. Oscar steps out front again to draw his hand up again even higher than before.

OSCAR  
About here.

Both Lauren and Roy make a quick nod in agreement.

Rul the soul collector makes no attempts to communicate any further with the Ghostbusters. He is not concerned that the group can make any impact on his plans. The Ghostbusters take note of his silence.

OSCAR  
Okay well as an official…

LAUREN  
Unofficial.

Oscar gives Lauren a look of disbelief.

OSCAR  
As a member of the New York division of the Ghostbusters...

ROY  
A trademark name.

OSCAR  
We must ask you to cease all abductions of souls and to return the ones you have already taken.

Silence. Nobody moves and wait for an answer.

RUL  
No.

Roy pulls out his barrel and flicks on the switch on the proton pack.

ROY  
Well you heard him… this ghost is toast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes.  
Characters.  
Oscar Vankman. Is a heavy gambler which has negative repercussions for the Ghostbuster team. He lost the ecto 1 in a gamble. In the build of the climax he is able to track down the Ecto 1 and has been saving money ever since he lost it. In combination with the money and the threat to the world he is able to convince the new owner to sell it back in order to help provide a symbol to encourage all the Ghostbuster teams. Oscar also has a visual tell that often gets him into trouble and often how he loses in gambling.

Roy Holtzman. Hates to lose. Is in a relationship with Lauren Spangler but is not fully committed because he can’t get over a past love. Loves being a Ghost Buster.

Lauren Spangler. Hates being referred to as Egon by Peter. She is very independent and careful since she has been raised by Egon’s crazy experiments on her as a baby and child which we get to see some snapshots of in the end credits roll. Battles being scared of the supernatural after Egon disappeared.

Peter Vankman. Often teases Lauren because he knows it gets to her. He may tease her but he still has boundaries he will never cross with her. Peter is very disappointed in Oscar after he gambled away the ecto one and endangered his fellow Ghostbusters with the risks he would take. He consistently finds excuses to avoid getting into a debate with Oscar.

Plot ideas.

I have now combined elements of the original

Hellbent script plot with my own ideas.  
Events from the original movie where the first team used their proton beams to defeat Gozer by coming up with the idea of crossing them has had an adverse on the universe like Egon had predicted as one of the likely scenarios only it has been a very gradual wear on reality. As Lauren mentions in the film it was out of unmitigated dumb luck that they results at the time were less severe. Over the years people have been disappearing effectively erased from existence. The people leave behind traces of haunting shadows or images which are at first mistaken from some form of ghosts. Might hint at this was the fate of Egon.This might also be the fate of one of the other original cast as well possibly Dana. 

The new Ghostbuster team consisting of Lauren and Roy and the new guy has pretty much taken over Ghost busting. Only when it's absolutely required do the original team step in to help.

Essential scene. Manhellion has a part of Manhattan missing and is filled with a living carnival. When the Ghost Busters approach the park (maybe it's central park that has been replaced.) Rockwell Somebody’s Watching me plays. There is a Ferris wheel and a rollercoaster with a tunnel at the end which comes alive and swallows riders whole.

 

Easter Eggs.  
In Manhellion there are places where the word What is seen on the walls of buildings suggesting that the character What from the real Ghostbusters animated tv show occupies a place in this reality.  
The dancing toaster from the second ghostbusters movie can be seen in the kitchen now with a musical note sticker slapped on the side of the toaster. Might be an inside family joke amongst the Ghostbusters.


End file.
